


Dream Weed

by Bethann



Category: Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe, Comfort, Friendship, Humor, Spanking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-18
Updated: 2011-07-18
Packaged: 2017-10-21 12:37:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/225238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bethann/pseuds/Bethann
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Estel convinces Legolas to try his pipe with interesting results for everyone! The names of the plants are plants of Middle Earth, but I made up their properties.  Consider that bit AU.  Also  consider the fact that my version of Legolas is more or less a teenager because of the maturity rate of immortals being much slower than that of humans. I do realize what the great professor said about elves becoming adults around age 50, but for the purpose of my stories, it is closer to 1,000.  Thanks for reading!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dream Weed

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


  
"Is this it?" Legolas held a plant up for Elladan to see.

"No that is not it," Elladan rolled his eyes impatiently, "how many times do I  
have to tell you, it has red blossoms, not white! That is Nephredil. It is  
very common. We are looking for Seregon. RED blossoms."

"You are looking in the shade," Elrohir tried to be helpful, "it won't grow  
there. You'll find it mostly in high sunny areas."

"I have never seen such a thing before. How am I supposed to know how to find  
it?" Legolas complained. "Why are we looking for it anyway?"

"Father says the healing ward has a dire shortage of it." Estel answered as he  
half-heartedly kicked aside a of tuft of grass, "He says it is vitally important  
to find more of it today.

Elladan and Elrohir shared a look. They were both fully aware of why they were  
looking for Seregon and why it was so important for it to be found this day.  
There was no such thing as a dire shortage of it. In fact the healing  
properties of Seregon were somewhere between questionable and non-existent. But  
Legolas knew nothing of herb lore and Estel was just learning so neither one  
suspected the real reason for this outing.

The true reason they had this assignment had to do with a contingent of elves  
from Lothlorien who would be arriving this morning. Lord Elrond would be in  
important meetings all day and had declared he would not be interrupted. Since  
Legolas' arrival, the elf lord felt he hadn't finished one single project  
without having to digress to deal with his human foster son and the elfling.  
Even getting through a meal had become a trial. Sending them away from the  
house had been disastrous; confining them to their chambers had been worse. He  
was pleased that the young ones were finding so much pleasure in each other's  
company but enough was enough! That was how he came up with the plan to send  
the two miscreants, with the twins to watch over them, on this wild goose chase.  
It would take them all day to find enough Seregon to fill the wooden box he had  
given them. Busywork to keep them out of his hair!

The twins had both hated the idea. They had better things to do with their day  
than spend it baby-sitting a pair of hooligans; if Father really needed the  
herb, he had plenty of servants to gather it. Neither had found the nerve to  
protest, however, when they saw the wild look in their Adar's eye. He clearly  
was not going to be talked out of his plan. Elladan had taken the wooden box,  
while Elrohir had gone to gather their charges.

Now it was well into the morning and nothing had been accomplished. Unless  
Legolas climbing an excessive number of trees and Estel getting soaked while  
trying to cross the river using slippery stepping stones instead of the bridge,  
counted as accomplishments. A lot of teasing, shoving and wrestling had been  
accomplished as well, along with a massive amount of whining and complaining.  
The twins had spent all their energy trying to keep the youngsters focused on  
the task at hand and still not one red blossom had been found. Elladan thought  
he would go quite mad.

He checked around the sunny areas of the clearing they were currently in and  
found not a trace of the Seregon, but when he looked up, noticed Legolas was  
sitting on the ground picking the Nephredil blossoms and tying them together by  
their stems to form a long white string. Estel was trying to crack open a  
walnut with a rock. Elladan suppressed a desire to scream and gave his twin a  
pleading look

Seeing his brother was reaching the end of his patience, Elrohir made a  
suggestion. "This might go faster if we split up. Elladan and I will go to  
those hills to the north," he said pointing, "and you two stay here in this  
clearing and keep looking."

"Great Idea!" Elladan agreed. It would be a relief to be free from all the  
complaining and fooling around for a bit. He pointed a warning finger at Estel  
and instructed, "Do not even think about leaving this clearing until we return."  
He turned his stern gaze on the elfling as well.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever." Estel said as he pried the cracked walnut open with his  
knife. Legolas never even bothered to look up, but merely nodded as he  
continued tying flower stems together. Elrohir shot his twin a worried glance,  
but Elladan had already started making his way toward the northern hills.

As soon as the his foster brothers were out of sight, Estel sat down next to his  
friend and started rifling through his pack. Legolas watched him curiously,  
thinking about how much the boy had changed in the few short years they had  
known each other.

When they had first met, the child had been a little over waist high to the  
elf. The two had been immediately fascinated with each other. Legolas was used  
to being far younger than anyone else around, and found it a unique and fun  
experience to have the little boy tagging admiringly after him. Each time they  
had met after that, he had been amazed at how quickly the child had grown. When  
they had seen each other nearly a year ago, Legolas had been surprised to find  
that Estel had grown tall enough to look him in the eye. At that time Legolas  
had thought that from a distance a person could not tell that Estel wasn't an  
elf. He had been tall and slender with his dark hair hanging halfway down his  
back and braided in a style similar to his foster brothers. With his graceful  
movements and smooth skin, one would have had to see the rounded ears to  
recognize him as a human. This was also the time when a new world of  
possibilities had opened up to the two friends. Estel, it seemed, had caught up  
to Legolas not only in height, but also in terms of maturity. With both clever  
minds working together, all sorts of schemes and plans had been carried out to  
the delight of both parties and to the distress of almost everyone else in their  
path.

Legolas had been anxious to see his friend after their ten-month separation, but  
had been astonished again when Estel had come to greet him. No one would  
mistake him for an elf now. His chest had broadened and he had cropped his hair  
off to shoulder length in the style commonly worn by men. His formerly smooth  
face was now covered with soft, scruffy-looking whiskers, and when he spoke,  
Legolas noticed, his voice had dropped an octave since their last meeting. The  
elf marveled at the changes that had taken place in these few short months. It  
had not yet occurred to him that Estel would continue his rapid changing and  
become an adult man, while the elf would remain a veritable youth. Even with  
the long life his Numenorian lineage would afford him, Estel would barely live  
long enough to see his elven friend reach his majority.

However, neither companion thought of that eventuality as they sat together  
among the snowy Nephredil blossoms. Estel, still digging through his pack,  
smiled triumphantly as he laid his hands on what he was looking for. He pulled  
out a homemade pipe, a pouch of dried pipe-weed, and a flint to light it with.  
Legolas frowned at this.

"What are you doing, Estel?"

"What does it look like?" Estel asked, tamping the pipe-weed into the bowl of  
the pipe.

"It is a nasty habit, Human," The elf said disapprovingly, "Your Adar would not  
like it."

"He doesn't like me to do it in the house, but I don't think he would care about  
out here." Estel shrugged, "Besides he isn't here, in case you hadn't noticed."

"Your brothers are here," Legolas pointed out.

"True, but they won't mind," Estel said, "I learned to smoke while traveling  
with my brothers. We spent some time with the Rangers of the North. The men  
all smoked, and my brothers did not object to my trying it."

"Where did you get the pipe-weed?" Legolas asked, "It's certainly not cultivated  
in Imladris."

Estel smiled, "No it is not, but it does grow wild in these woods. I dried it in  
my room. This is a little different from what I tried before, though. The  
leaves are thinner." He lit the pipe and sniffed the aroma of the burning  
leaves. "It smells a bit different too. Sweeter." He took the first real puff,  
holding the smoke in his lungs before slowly exhaling. He felt his muscles  
relax. "This is much nicer than what I smoked before! You should try it.." He  
held the pipe out to his friend.

"Why ever would I want to do that?" Legolas scoffed.

"To keep me company! You might like it."

"I don't think so. It's disgusting, Estel."

Estel was annoyed, "You just say that because you've heard other elves say so.  
How could you possibly know if you don't try it? What are you afraid of  
anyway?"

Estel knew the right thing to say to get his friend to comply with his wishes.  
Legolas snatched the pipe from his hand and took a puff, sucking the smoke deep  
into his lungs in imitation of his friend. He immediately choked, feeling as if  
his lungs were on fire. Tears streamed down his face as he coughed  
uncontrollably. He glared angrily at his smirking companion.

"You are doing it wrong, Elf!" Estel laughed, "Here let me show you." He took  
the pipe back and began to instruct his friend. "You have to hold the smoke in  
your mouth for a few seconds so it can cool. Then just inhale it slowly, a  
little at a time and hold. It's easy! Let me show you." He demonstrated the  
technique, and felt waves of warmth wash over him. This really was superior to  
any pipe-weed he had smoked before! He handed the pipe back to Legolas.

The elfling was intent on proving that he could smoke the pipe as well as his  
friend. He took a small puff, holding it in his mouth and inhaling slowly, just  
as Estel had shown him. This time he didn't cough, so he tried again, inhaling  
a larger amount of smoke than before. He felt his limbs relax as he exhaled.  
This was more pleasant than he had expected! The next time he held the smoke  
until his lungs screamed for oxygen, and then let it out slowly. A deep feeling  
of peace settled over him. He looked around and noticed the sky seemed bluer  
than it had a moment ago. He wondered why elves had such a prejudice against  
smoking this delightful stuff. He started to bring the pipe to his lips once  
more, but was stopped when Estel reached out to grab it.

"I said I wanted you to try it, not hog all of it!" Estel admonished. He took  
his turn with the pipe as Legolas went back to tying the Nephredil stems  
together, lengthening the floral chain. Estel handed the pipe back to Legolas  
and held one hand out in front of him, suddenly fascinated with how his fingers  
fit perfectly together. After smoking a bit more, the elf put the pipe down and  
looked at the white flowers he was holding, as if he had never seen them before.  
He had not noticed the delicate yellow veins at the throat of the blossoms. He  
carefully examined each one before holding them out to show his friend.

"These are exquisite, Estel! Look at them." Estel took the floral string from  
the elf, and tied its ends together forming a necklace. He gazed at the face of  
his dearest friend and suddenly felt very sentimental.

"It is beautiful, Legolas. Just like our friendship…"

"Nephredil," the elf said cocking his head.

"I don't have the words to tell you, how much you mean to me…"

"Nephredil…Nephredil." He said the word as if it were something to taste.

"I mean seriously, you are just like a brother to me, truly my closest friend…"

"Neph red il. Neph red il" Legolas spoke each syllable distinctly. "It  
sounds strange doesn't it? Nephredil, Nephredil, Nephredil."

Estel placed the floral necklace around the elf's neck and kissed the fair  
cheek.

Legolas looked into the shimmering eyes of his friend. "Nephredil!" he said  
emphatically, "Say it Estel. Nephredil. It sounds really peculiar. I wonder who  
named it?"

"NephredilNephredilNephredilNephredil," Estel repeated. "You are right. It does  
sound weird. I wonder who came up with that name?"

"That is amazing, Estel! I was just wondering the same thing!" Legolas said in  
surprise.

"Maybe I am reading your mind. Or you are reading mine. Which one of us said  
that anyway?" Estel asked.

"I am not certain." Legolas was confused now. "Did you just kiss me?"

Estel thought this over. "It is not likely," he said after a few seconds. "Am I  
keeping my eyes open?"

Legolas leaned forward to inspect his friend. "As far as I can tell. Why?"

"Well I am trying to keep them open," Estel explained, "but everything looks  
like I'm blinking very rapidly."

"I know what you mean," Legolas agreed, "It's as if everything is all choppy.  
Perhaps it is the weather."

"Perhaps. Do we have any food around here? I'm starving."

" I was just thinking that. You are reading my mind again." The two looked  
around and found the packs that had been left leaning against the trunk of a  
tall maple tree. They quickly dumped the contents on the ground, and made short  
work of the dried meat and fruit they found inside.

"Is that it?" Estel asked in a panic. "There has to be something else around  
here to eat."

Legolas lowered himself back onto the ground, and stared up into the branches of  
the maple tree above them. Estel looked up as well, to see what his friend was  
looking at. He noticed something right away.

"There is some kind of giant fruit growing in this tree." Estel said, "You  
should go get it."

"It is a maple tree, Human. There is no fruit growing in it."

"I know it is a maple tree, Legolas. But I tell you I can see fruit growing in  
it." Estel insisted.

Legolas looked closer, and was stunned to see that Estel was right. There was,  
indeed, some kind of fruit growing in the very top limbs of the maple tree! He  
could not explain how it got there, but he could definitely see it very clearly.

"Go get it Estel!" Legolas ordered his friend.

"You go get it. You climb better than I do."

"I do not wish to get up. I'm perfectly comfortable. Besides you saw it first,  
so you should go get it," The elf reasoned.

"I can't go get it. I'm too heavy to climb all the way up there. The branches  
won't be strong enough to hold me. You have to do it because you are lighter."

Legolas heaved a great sigh, "Oh very well. I will climb up to get the fruit,  
lazy human!"

The elf ignored a wave of vertigo as he stood up, and leapt into the tree.  
Estel lay back on the ground and watched his friend climb nimbly to the very  
thinnest top branches. He closed his eyes and wondered what kind of fruit would  
grow in a maple tree. His mouth watered in anticipation of trying it. He could  
hardly wait for Legolas to return with it, for his hunger had grown at an  
alarming rate. He opened his eyes in time to see the elf jump from the top of  
the tree, but instead of landing elegantly on his feet, he skidded on some loose  
dirt and fell with a thump on his side.

Estel scrambled to his feet and ran to his friend's side. He rolled the elf  
onto his back and looked imploringly into his eyes, "Did you get the fruit? You  
didn't smash it did you?" Legolas groaned and then blinked a few times before  
answering.

"No I did not get it," he explained, "After I got up there I could not see it  
anymore. And now my arm hurts."

"Damn it!" Estel swore, "I really wanted that fruit! It hurts because it is  
broken."

"What is broken?"

"Your arm. I can tell because it is bent in the middle and turned at an odd  
angle. I broke my arm once and it took nearly eight weeks for it to heal, but  
with your superior healing ability, you will probably be fine in two. Here let  
me fix it for you."

He looked around for something with which to wrap his friend's arm. Finding  
nothing, he had to come up with another solution. He helped Legolas sit up, and  
sat directly behind him wrapping his arms around his friend. He carefully  
straightened the bent arm, causing Legolas to cry out. He placed his own arm  
under the elf's arm, supporting it as best he could. "I can't find anything to  
wrap it with, so I will just hold it for you. It will only take two weeks."

"You cannot hold my arm for two weeks," Legolas protested.

Estel pondered over this dilemma. "You are right. You will have to hold it  
yourself." He took the elf's good arm and placed it beneath the broken one. He  
stood up, patted Legolas on the head, and turned back to his earlier concern.  
He had to get that fruit! He gathered a handful of stones, took aim, and began  
hurling them in the direction of the desired object, in an effort to knock it  
from the tree.

When the twins returned with their box half full of Seregon, this is what they  
found. Legolas covered with dirt and looking pale, sat on the ground cradling  
his arm, as Estel threw one stone after another at a hornet's nest.

"Estel! What do you think you are doing?" Elladan shouted, spinning his young  
brother around by the shoulders.

"I am trying to knock down that maple fruit thing! Let me go!"

Elladan squeezed the boy's wrist until he dropped the stones he was holding.  
"Are you crazy, child? You know what a hornet's nest looks like." He looked  
closer at his brother's face and noticed the dilated pupils. He placed one hand  
on the young man's brow, checking for fever. "Are you ok, Estel?"

"No I am not ok! I am starving! Now let me go!"

"Ha, I don't think so, Little One." He pulled the boy over to where Elrohir sat  
trying to get a look at Legolas.

"Do not touch me!" Legolas warned turning away, "It will hurt! Besides, Estel  
already fixed it."

"Fixed what? Let me see." Elrohir carefully moved away the uninjured arm. His  
eyes widened in astonishment. "Your arm is broken! We were barely gone an hour.  
How did this happen?"

"Your arm might be broken too if you fell out of a tree!" Estel defended his  
friend.

"What were you doing falling out of trees, Elfling?" Elrohir asked in  
bewilderment.

"I did not fall out of the tree. I jumped!" Legolas said indignantly. "How was I  
to know the ground would move?" Elrohir looked to his brother for help.  
Elladan hunched down next to Legolas, and tilted the elfling's chin up so he  
could look into his eyes. Legolas had the same dilated pupils as his friend.

"They are intoxicated." Elladan stated.

"How can they be intoxicated?" Elrohir was perplexed. "We would have noticed if  
they had brought enough wine to cause this condition. Besides, we would be able  
to smell it on them." He leaned toward Legolas to see if he could detect the  
scent of alcohol. "Have you been smoking?" He asked incredulously.

For some reason, this question struck the elfling as uproariously funny. He  
began to giggle. The identical disapproving looks the twins wore, tickled him  
even more. "You said they would not mind, Estel. I think you were wrong. They  
look angry." The laughter was contagious. Estel dissolved into a fit of  
giggles and sank down beside Legolas.

"You are right. They do look angry. And there are so many of them now. Weren't  
there just two before?" He squinted his eyes and stared at his brothers trying  
to figure out where the extras came from. Sometimes he could see four, and then  
it would be five, all wearing the same dismayed expression.

Elrohir looked helplessly at his twin, "What do we do now?"

"I say we sober them up with a fair-sized switch!" Elladan said, reaching for  
the knife at his belt. Elrohir grabbed his brother's wrist.

"We can't do that. Legolas is hurt. And besides you'd just be relieving your  
own frustration. I don't think either of them would understand right now."

"Of course you are right." Elladan sighed, "You immobilize the elfling's arm and  
I'll pick up everything they've dumped all over the ground. Don't let Estel  
pick up any rocks!"

With a little coaxing, Elrohir was able to splint the broken limb. He only had  
to slap Estel's hand twice when the boy tried to retrieve the rocks he had been  
forced to drop. Elladan, picking up the items that were scattered over the  
ground, came across the pipe and the little pouch of pipe-weed. He picked up a  
few leaves between his fingers and examined them. Everything finally began to  
make sense. He took the pouch and sat down directly in front of his human  
brother. He poured a few of the leaves into his palm and showed them to the  
young human.

"Estel, this is not pipe weed!" he said.

"It isn't? Then what is it?"

"Pipe-weed is a plant called Nicotiana. This is Cannabis. It's commonly called  
dream-weed. It gives a feeling of intoxication and causes visions. You are both  
high from smoking it." Elladan explained.

"You should know better than to ingest an unknown substance!" Elrohir scolded.  
"It's a good thing a band of orcs didn't pass by. You would have asked them to  
dance."

"We are only an hour from home," Legolas pointed out. "There are no orcs within  
the borders of Imladris."

"Well venomous snakes then!" Elrohir amended.

"Or hornets nests!" Elladan added. "Or trees, or moving ground, or…" He stopped  
speaking when he noticed Estel's eyes had glazed over. Elladan sighed and  
dumped the remaining leaves out, scattering them to the wind.

"Hey, don't do that!" Estel protested as Legolas tried to catch some of the  
floating leaves with his free hand. "Do you know how long it took me to gather  
and dry all that stuff?"

  
"Not as long as it will be before you are allowed out of the house again, after  
Father finds out what you have been doing." Elrohir observed.

"Or as long as it will take you to be able to sit comfortably again." Elladan  
added.

In a tiny clear corner of his mind, Estel was concerned that his foster brothers  
were going to be proven correct. "At least we have the Seregon blossoms." He  
said. "That should help with any residual pain."

Elladan took some of the red blossoms and placed them in the pouch that had  
formerly held the Cannabis leaves. He handed this to Estel. "Keep telling  
yourself that, Little Brother. Now let's go!"

"Do you think we should go with them?" Estel whispered to Legolas. "We may be  
able to fight them off."

Legolas considered this. "I can only fight with one arm, and I think I've lost  
my knife somewhere," he said. "Besides there are six of them now. We are  
clearly outnumbered."

  
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